Cigar holder and tobacco leaf spreader



July 21, 1936. T. R. SCHLITZ CIGAR HOLDER AND TOBACCO LEAF SPREADER Filed March 28,- 1935 IN V EN TOR. 2 7 1502226251? @Z ZZZZ,

TTORNEYS.

Patented July 21, 1936 CIGAR noLnEn' AND Y srn TOBACCO LEAF moan Thomal n. Schlitz, ambush, n. Y. Application March 28. 1935, Serial No. 13,501

This invention relates to a new and useful article of manufacture to serve as a cigar holder, and comprises an impaling member for drawing the holder into the cigar'and retaining it therein,

5 as well as a suitable mouthpiece either extending from or fitting snugly around one end of the cigar. In smoking cigars it is necessary to open the end of the cigar which is normally placed in the mouth, because, as cigars are made, the wrapper completely closes this end. customarily, the closed end is either bitten or cut off so that the cigar will draw. Many smokers unconsciously chew the end of a cigar and thereby break down the wrapper or otherwise mutilate theend so that the wrapper is loosened and the cigar does not draw properly. Even when a cigar has the end neatly cut off, it oftentimes happens that it will not draw well because the filler is so tightly cominto which it is inserted shown in outline;

pressed that there is little space for smoke to v berwhich is introduced into the closed end of the cigar and also means forming a mouthpiece which may be either invisible, that is, held by the lips of the smoker, or a type which acts as a bowl to receive the end of the cigar.

It is among the objects of this invention to provide an article of manufacture useful as a cigar holder which may be readily inserted into a cigar and firmly held therein without being visible to any extent on the outside.

It is another object to provide an impaling member provided with screw threads by means of which the cigar holder may be readily inserted by screwing into the end of the cigar to spread the tobacco leaves and form smoke channels around the impaling member and assist in making a cigar draw easily.

A further object includes the provision of a cgar holder with an impaling member having a longitudinal slot to receive smoke from smoke channels formed by threads on the impaling member from which the smoke is conducted through a mouthpiece out of the end of the cigar.

A still further object includes the provision of a cigar holder which may be readily and cheaply constructed and which may be provided with a mouthpiece normally held between the lips of the smoker and therefore normally invisible.

With these and other objects in view, the invention is herein illustrated as to certain preferred embodiments thereof, which should be considered as illustrative and not as limiting.

formed as illustrated in Fig. 9 by a small milling In the drawing, in which similar numerals refer to similar parts:

Figure 1 is a view of a side elevation of one embodiment of the cigar holder, with the cigar Figure 2 is a view of a top elevation of the embodiment shown in Fig. 1;

Figure 3 is a view in cross section taken along the line 3-3 of Fig. 2;

Figure 4 is a view in section alongthe line 4-4 10 of Fig. 3;

Figure 5 is a view in cross section along the line 55 of Fig. 1, while Figure 6 is another view, partly in section, along the line 66 of Fig. 1;

Figure 7 is a view of a side elevation of a modi- 15 fied form of the cigar holder, with a view of a cigar in section;

Figure 8 is a view in cross section along lines 8-8 of Fig.7; and- I Figure 9 is a view showing the operation of cutting the groove to form the type of cigar holder illustrated in Fig. 1..

Referring now more particularly to Figure 1, the cigar holder comprises a long sharpened impaling member 10 provided at its unsharpened end with a mouthpiece Id. The long impaling member ID is provided with a sharpened point It; and has screw threads I8 running for substantially the entire length thereof. At the unsharpened end of the impaling member Ill is provided suitable means for attaching the impaling memher to the mouthpiece I 4 which may be threads 20.

The threaded end of the tubular impaling member 10 may extend practically all the way through the mouthpiece I4, or it may extend only a short distance into it and a hole through the mouthpiece serves as a smoke carrying channel. As illustrated, the impaling member extends only part way into the mouthpiece, terminating at the base of a V-shaped channel I5.

The impaling member ID may be made from a threaded tube in which the bore runs from the blunt end practically all the way through to the sharpened end or the bore may originally extend only a relatively short distance, in which case a slot 22 furnishes the smoke conduit. The slot 22 extending for a substantial distance along the sharpened impaling member [0 is conveniently cutter 24 that cuts a narrow slot completely through the impaling member ID for a substantial distance along the length thereof and, if only a short bore has been made in the tube, until the slot 22 meets the passage 26.

r The mouthpiece ll may be made or formed of a suitable material such as bakelite or other hardened resin, bone, wood or the like, and is formed with a tapering surface 30 with shoulders at 32 to firmly engage the end of the cigar 34 in the countersunk portion and thereby prevent any gas passages between the mouthpiece l4 and the cigar 34. The mouthpiece II is conveniently formed with teeth grooves 36 which may have one side higher than the other in the form of a raised portion 38. The teeth grooves 36 may have a slight curvature to correspond with the curvature of the teeth line in the mouth and thereby make the holder fit comfortably between the teeth of the smoker.

In Fig. '7 there is illustrated a modified form or another embodiment of the invention. In this embodiment there is an impaling member l which is provided with a central bore 40 extending the entire length thereof, which central bore for a substantial distance along the impaling member is in communication with the outside by a cutaway portion 42 which gives the impaling memher a flattened appearance as viewed in cross section in Fig. 8 with threads I8 extending for substantially the entire length thereof but only for a short distance around the circumference.

'Also illustrated in Fig. 'I is another embodiment or modification of the invention particularly relating to the form of the mouthpiece. In this embodiment the mouthpiece 50 is in the form of a bowl or cap which fits snugly over the end of the cigar and may be conveniently constructed of any rigid or semi-rigid material.

The term mouthpiece as used in this specification applies to the type illustrated in Fig. 1 which is designed to be held by the teeth and lips of the smoker in such a manner as to be invisible as well as to the type illustrated in Fig. 7. In the latter embodiment the bowl or cap 50 is normally invisible since it is held in the mouth but not necessarily between the teeth and lips since the teeth may engage the cigar wrapper itself beyond the cap or bowl portion which then serves to hold the wrapper at the end of the cigar and keep it from raveling.

The embodiment of the cigar holder illustrated in Fig. 1 is readily inserted into the normally closed end of a cigar by placing the sharpened point I 6 of the impaling member ID in contact therewith and then rotating the cigar holder, whereby the screw threads l8 draw the impaling member Ill into the body of the cigar. In so doing the leaves of tobacco forming the filler are spread apart to form smoke channels through which the smoke may readily travel and be drawn through the impaling member. The threads l8 raise the leaves of tobacco 33 in the cigar 34 so as to leave small channels 35 around the impaling member which serve to carry smoke to the longitudinal mixing slot 22, from which it is readily carried by the bore 26 to the mouthpiece and into the mouth of the smoker. The threads l8 therefore serve not on y to draw the impaling member and cigar holder into the body of the cigar and hold it there, but also to form a large number of channels for assisting in the flow of smoke. I

As the impaling member III is screwed into the cigar, the mouthpiece I4 is drawn, up to the end thereof and the shoulders 32 fit snuglyagainst 10 and to a limited extent surround this end to prevent any passage of air or smoke at this point.

-The bowl or cap 50, Fig. 'l, which serves as a mouthpiece is also drawn up to the end of the cigar by the movement of screwing the impaling member ID into the cigar and when drawn up forms a tight. seal at the end of the cigar to prevent the undesirable flow of air or smoke at this point.

It will thus be seen that by this invention there has been provided a cigar holder which may be readily inserted into a cigar by either the smoker or manufacturer and which, when so inserted, provides a large number of smallsmoke channels which gather smoke and deliver it to a larger channel in direct communication with the mouthpiece through which the smoke isdrawn into the mouth of the smoker.

While the invention has been described with reference to certain preferred embodiments thereof, these are not to be considered as limiting, but simply as illustrative of certain preferred forms which the invention may assume.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim is:

1. A cigar holder comprising a mouthpiece, a sharpened tubular impaling member extending therefrom, threads on the impaling member along substantially its entire length for drawing it into the end of a cigar and bringing the mouthpiece into abutting relation with said end of the cigar, said threads also serving to form smoke channels about the impaling member, and a longitudinal slot extending for a substantial distance along the threaded portion of the impaling member to form a passageway for smoke from the cigar into the bore of the tube.

2. A cigar holder comprising a bowl or cap portion for receivably engaging the end of a cigar, a sharpened tubular impaling member extending from within the bowl portion, threads on the impaling member for drawing it' into the cigar and bringing the bowl portion into engagement with said end of the cigar, said threads also serving to form smoke channels about the impaling member, and a longitudinal slot extending for a substantial distance along the threaded portion of the impaling member to form a passageway for smoke from the cigar into the bore of the tube.

THOMAS R. SCHIJTZ. e0 

